Huh. Family with a history of ADHD. My father, me, son. Medication for my son makes an unbelievable difference. For me with a moderate therapeutic dose, huge difference as an adult. Took meds in school as well. Dad, ended up addicted to meth and alcohol and never did much with his life. They didn't know about ADHD when he was young.
The difference in knowing the enemy and practicing against it is a big deal. To get ADHD meds as an adult I had to spend a lot of time with a psychiatrist and I did machine based testing that is very difficult to fake. Some doctors don't care and just write scripts. It is increasingly risky for doctors to do so though, so most refer you to a psych first.
I will note, at the low to moderate therapeutic doses I use (often skipping several days) it is far from some sort of epidemic of abuse like what the author portrayed. And honestly, even if you don't have ADHD, so, what. It is safer than meth. Alcohol is way, way worse than therapeutic doses of amphetamines. (Therapeutic means relatively low and controlled dosing)
I think I would honestly rather see amphetamines a little overprescribed than have true ADHD sufferers go without treatment. Of all the drugs psychiatrist prescribe, amphetamines for ADHD sufferers have the largest observable therapeutic effect, bar none. We aren't talking just among ADHD. Of all mental illness amphetamines for ADHD sufferers produces a huge clinical effect unlike any other drugs like anti depressants. For those of us that it really helps it is not a game. This article read like scaremongering with no real talk of the actual impact of prescription amphetamine use and abuse. There is no real data to back it up. There is no doubt most people who think they ha e ADHD as an adult don't have it, but at the same time there is no evidence presented that 1.) It is causing harm at any scale and 2.) How overdiagnosed it actually is, but by god we need to do something about this amphetamines...
Kids addicted alcohol in college probably don't graduate. Kids scrounging a few addy probably just write the most interesting papers about neoclassical bullshit the history of humanity ever witnessed.
Edit: Just want to add that people with ADHD are hugely overrepresented within alcoholics and drug abusers. When we don't get the advice and help we need many self medicate. ADHD is a mental illness, just like depression, and other mental illnesses. With addictive personalities being common among ADHD suffered due to how our brains manage dopamine, it is no surprise. It is a huge waste of human potential.
The difference in knowing the enemy and practicing against it is a big deal. To get ADHD meds as an adult I had to spend a lot of time with a psychiatrist and I did machine based testing that is very difficult to fake. Some doctors don't care and just write scripts. It is increasingly risky for doctors to do so though, so most refer you to a psych first.
I will note, at the low to moderate therapeutic doses I use (often skipping several days) it is far from some sort of epidemic of abuse like what the author portrayed. And honestly, even if you don't have ADHD, so, what. It is safer than meth. Alcohol is way, way worse than therapeutic doses of amphetamines. (Therapeutic means relatively low and controlled dosing)
I think I would honestly rather see amphetamines a little overprescribed than have true ADHD sufferers go without treatment. Of all the drugs psychiatrist prescribe, amphetamines for ADHD sufferers have the largest observable therapeutic effect, bar none. We aren't talking just among ADHD. Of all mental illness amphetamines for ADHD sufferers produces a huge clinical effect unlike any other drugs like anti depressants. For those of us that it really helps it is not a game. This article read like scaremongering with no real talk of the actual impact of prescription amphetamine use and abuse. There is no real data to back it up. There is no doubt most people who think they ha e ADHD as an adult don't have it, but at the same time there is no evidence presented that 1.) It is causing harm at any scale and 2.) How overdiagnosed it actually is, but by god we need to do something about this amphetamines...
Kids addicted alcohol in college probably don't graduate. Kids scrounging a few addy probably just write the most interesting papers about neoclassical bullshit the history of humanity ever witnessed.
Edit: Just want to add that people with ADHD are hugely overrepresented within alcoholics and drug abusers. When we don't get the advice and help we need many self medicate. ADHD is a mental illness, just like depression, and other mental illnesses. With addictive personalities being common among ADHD suffered due to how our brains manage dopamine, it is no surprise. It is a huge waste of human potential.